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      Martin Brudnizki draws on “gritty glamour” for colourful Broadwick Soho hotel

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      Interior architect Martin Brudnizki has used Italian maiolica tiles and bespoke furniture from India to give London’s Broadwick Soho hotel an eclectic look.

      The eight-floor hotel was designed by Martin Brudnizki Design Studio (MBDS) to evoke the history of Soho – the London neighbourhood that surrounds it.
      The hotel is located on Broadwick Street in London’s Soho area”Inspired by ‘gritty glamour’ and the diverse history of Soho, MBDS’s design influences range from 1970s disco pop elements to British eccentricity,” studio founder Martin Brudnizki told Dezeen.
      The hotel was also influenced by “the strong women who frequented Soho during the 1960s and 70s such as Mary Fedden, Molly Parkin and Muriel Belcher.”
      Maiolica tiles decorate the restaurant barBroadwick Soho is comprised of  57 rooms, which Brudnizki decorated in opulent colours and patterns. For the downstairs Italian restaurant, Dear Jackie, Brudnizki sourced materials and accessories that nod to its cuisine.

      “A split-level restaurant, the communal dining takes centre stage with long counter-style tables featuring 1970s Formica tops and Memphis-inspired chandeliers suspended from coral lacquered ceilings,” he said.
      Floral patterns cover the walls of the restaurant”The bar features maiolica tiles in traditional southern Italian patterns,” Brudnizki added. “This compliments the maiolica wall covering adorned with Sicilian folk motifs of grapes and flowers.”
      The handpainted ceramic tiles for the bar were developed by the studio itself together with a family business in Sicily.
      Rooms feature decorative elephant wallpaperIn some of the guestrooms, walls were decorated with marbled wallpaper with a pattern of tigers and elephants. The elephant was chosen as a symbol for the hotel and was also turned into mini bars in the hotel’s suites.
      “A huge amount of bespoke pieces were designed by the studio and produced by talented craftspeople across the world,” Brudnizki said.
      Martin Brudnizki Design Studio had elephant minibars crafted in India”The wonderful elephant mini bars in the suites were designed by the studio and crafted in India,” he added.
      “We actually travelled to India to work with the craftspeople directly, ensuring each detail was as we envisioned.”
      A vintage Murano glass chandelier hangs in The NookThe studio also sourced a number of vintage pieces for the hotel, including a 1970s Murano glass chandelier that hangs from the ceiling of The Nook – Broadwick Soho’s residents-only ground-floor lounge.
      MBDS also commissioned new Murano glass lamps that are scattered throughout the space.

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      “All of the Murano glass lights throughout the property have been made and developed by local artisans in the Venice region,” Brudnizki said.
      “Lastly, there is a collection of antiques throughout the hotel that have been sourced from independent Italian and British antique dealers, auction houses and shops.”
      Rooftop bar Flute features a variety of polished materialsBroadwick Soho’s rooftop dining bar – named Flute after a 19th-century flute maker on Broadwick Street – is an example of how Brudnizki played with multiple colours and patterns to create a space that he describes as combining “cocooned comfort with maximalist glamour”.
      Here, saturated green and pink pastel colours contrast gleaming marble and brass details, while contemporary art decorates the walls.
      The Nook has a cosy reading areaThe overall aim of the project was to create a hotel that would suit the context and history of Soho.
      “We were conscious of ensuring that what we were designing felt authentic and true to the Soho context and neighbourhood,” Brudnizki concluded.
      “It has such a strong and important cultural history, we were conscious we needed to draw this out and bring it to the forefront of our design concept.”
      Previous London projects designed by Brudnizki, who was one of the judges for Dezeen Awards 2023, include a mythology-informed restaurant and the redesign of members’ club Annabel’s.
      The photography is by James McDonald.

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      Delve Architects designs “nurturing but playful” nursery in east London

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      English practice Delve Architects has used joyful colours and natural, tactile materials to outfit a newly established kindergarten by the River Thames in east London that can be accessed via boat.

      The Nest daycare centre is part of a wider housing development in the Royal Wharf area, occupying a commercial unit at the base of a 19-storey housing block.
      The Nest nursery was designed by Delve ArchitectsAs a result, the primary challenge was to bring the towering newbuild space down to child scale and make it feel more homely while forging a greater connection to the riverfront.
      “We wanted to create a calm, nurturing but playful space that reflected the values of the nursery,” Delve Architects co-founder Alex Raher told Dezeen.
      “Their ethos is for children to have a positive learning experience through a healthy relationship with the environment around them and a connection to the outdoors.”

      The studio used timber arches to define the space and envelop the new staircaseTo boost the internal floor are, the studio installed a new mezzanine with a bespoke, powder-coated metal staircase that rises through a double-height space defined by a series of arched timber fins.
      These maple-veneered arches – each around 4.5 metres tall – were conceived by Delve Architects to subdivide the space, creating zones without physical barriers.
      The timber fins taper off into low benches for the children”We wanted to connect the spaces visually and physically between the mezzanine and lower level, and to soften the hardened edges of the space,” said Raher.
      The arches are formed from a series of fins that merge into benches and individual seating as they approach the ground.
      The stairs lead up to a new mezzanine level”The grand scale of the arches for a small child could feel overwhelming, so we brought this down into child-height seating, benches and joinery to play with the scale and make it more familiar to them,” said Raher.
      “The material flows seamlessly between the two levels and creates a natural material palette that the children could recognise and read through different heights and spaces.”
      The arches also span over the main staircase, where Raher says they suggest a canopy of trees.

      Chinese kindergarten designed as “small town” of flexible classrooms

      “We wanted it to be a centrepiece that was exciting, functional and exploratory, almost like a meandering joinery up to a treehouse-style level on the mezzanine, through a network of arches and branches on the way,” the architect explained.
      “One of the first concepts we explored was the treehouse idea, developing ideas around the nursery name The Nest and how we could bring a playful part of nature into the design.”
      Given its inner-city location, the nursery is fortunate to have a large garden overlooking the riverfront, which is connected to the nursery via a double set of six bi-folding doors.
      The upper level is finished almost entirely in baby pinkThe external fencing was designed by Delve Architects “to merge with the rhythm of the existing tower’s balconies” and powder-coated in a matching colour.
      “We wanted to celebrate the connection to the outside space, the riverfront location and the child-height views from the mezzanine to the water, as it was unique to the space and to the nursery setting,” said Raher.
      “Children can arrive and parents can commute using the river boat directly outside the nursery. The new pier designed by Nex Architecture is a beautiful backdrop to the site.”
      The mezzanine houses cosy play areasTo cope with the demands of a nursery setting, materials and finishes are resilient as well as being natural and tactile. Among them is recycled and recyclable Marmoleum flooring, maple-veneered joinery and low VOC paint.
      A colour palette of soft muted shades helps to create a homely atmosphere inside The Nest.
      “This palette works better than bolder primary colours, as these create too much visual noise for younger children,” Raher said.
      The Nest’s garden overlooks the riverfrontA panel of dark teal blue creates a datum line around the walls, designed to be “resilient to little fingers” while making the tall spaces feel more relatable to children.
      “We always try to design from a child’s perspective, putting ourselves at that level, quite literally in some cases,” Raher said.
      The soft blue of the flooring gels with the tones of the pale maple veneer and the matt pink that wraps around the ceiling and upper walls, covering almost the entire mezzanine.
      It can be accessed via river boat”It both draws your eye upwards but also manages to change the scale of the space,” said Raher. “In some areas there is a five-metre ceiling height, so we wanted to break this up visually.”
      “The services for heating, cooling and ventilation were also left exposed, giving a little insight for children to explore and imagine what they could be – a network of intriguing forms and geometry running through the nursery.”
      Other kindergartens that hope to forge a greater connection to nature include this English nursery by Feilden Clegg Bradley, which makes use of natural materials to reflect the surrounding woodland, and a timber kindergarten extension in Austria by Bernardo Bader Architekten.
      The photography is by Fred Howarth.

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      Studio FB creates gallery-like interior for Frame store in Marylebone

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      French interior design Studio FB and the co-founder of fashion brand Frame, Erik Torstensson, have designed a California-informed store for the brand in London.

      The store’s concept draws from the brand’s Californian origins as well as European influences, which is reflected in the lighting, furniture and materials.
      Studio FB designed a minimalist store for Frame”The Californian universe with these modernist architectures with a free plan, skylights and the opening of spaces to the outside was our inspiration basis,” Studio FB told Dezeen.
      “We imagined this new concept design layout as open as possible, which can be compared to a gallery.”
      The store is arranged round a large central pillarTo create a greater connection with the street, the studio redesigned the facade by adding a curved, full-height glazed wall, which was set behind the original piers.

      “We designed a long-curved glass like a contemporary insert which contrasts radically with the classic London pillars preserved,” said the studio.
      The studio aimed to create a gallery-like atmosphereWithin the store, the studio aimed to mimic the atmosphere of an art gallery with a polished concrete floor serving as a base for a central pillar constructed from stained birch wood veneer.
      The store’s rails were custom-designed with a distinctive hand-moulded abstract-shaped end-piece serving as the highlight
      With in the fitting room, the ceiling, walls and doors were upholstered in fabric by textile company Kvadrat.
      Custom-designed rails were created for the store”The rounded central wooden element was designed as a sculptural object, which gives a residential feeling from the 50s,” the studio explained.
      “The backspace invites the cabins and lounge area becomes more intimate all-in fabric and brings sophistication to the space. Pieces of furniture and artwork sublimate the atmosphere,” the studio continued.
      “The general atmosphere is similar to an art gallery with raw materials such as concrete on the floor and white walls.”
      The stores changing areas have fabric wallsFB Architects and Torstensson worked together to acquire artwork and collectable design pieces to reinforce the gallery atmosphere.
      “It was a thorough process to ensure the most unique response possible to Frame,” said the studio.
      “Erik had a precise vision of his brand, so we exchanged a lot together on many artistic fields to build the brand’s architectural DNA.”

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      A sculpture by Serbian visual artist Bojan Šarčević crafted from wood and limestone sits in the display window. Also in the store are two original 1950s Gio Ponti stools, crafted from wood and textiles.
      The store was decorated with wall-mounted fixtures designed by French lighting designer Jean Perzel, as well as geometric fixtures created by French architect Pierre Chareau, to create a soft and gentle lighting ambience.
      Artworks feature throughout the storeTorstensson used AI as a sketching tool to design custom objects for the space, such as large brutalist stone tables and chrome custom-made sculptures that were then realised by architecture studios including Bucktron Studio Sweden.
      “I’ve been learning and expanding my skills with AI for the last year, it creates a superpower when it comes to speed, as it allowed me to generate the visual concept at a greater pace and scale,” said Torstensson.
      “This creates exciting results and provides a new outlook on design. I simply use it to visualise my initial ideas in greater detail in order to bring my ideas to life.”
      The store is Frame’s second in the UKOther retail interiors recently featured on Dezeen include a stationery store interior made from white-oiled wood by Architecture for London and a store interior for Ms MIN in Shanghai, China, by Neri&Hu.
      The photography is courtesy of Frame.

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      Architecture for London creates demountable wood interior for Present & Correct store

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      Local studio Architecture for London has designed an interior for stationery store Present & Correct in London,  which features gridded joinery and draws on “wunderkammer” cabinets of curiosities.

      The studio designed bespoke joinery and storage for the Present & Correct shop in Bloomsbury, central London, which sells vintage and new stationery from across the globe.
      The store interior was made from white-oiled woodArchitecture for London constructed a fully demountable interior for the store, which could be moved in the future if needed.
      “Rather than building the joinery around the existing building, we treated each unit as a freestanding cabinet,” Architecture for London director Ben Ridley told Dezeen.
      Trays showcase old and new stationery”Aside from the kiosk, most of the joinery was constructed offsite, so we had to consider whether the cabinets fit through a standard door width and could it easily be carried,” he continued.

      “In the long term the interior needs to adapt to multiple environments; the current shop has uneven floors, to accommodate this the cabinets have adjustable feet concealed within a recessed plinth, while slender legs appear to be bearing the weight.”
      Architecture for London developed a grid design for the interiorPresent & Correct’s aesthetic is often built around an organised grid that holds different-shaped pieces of stationery, and the studio aimed to replicate this in the interior of the store.
      “The shop joinery provides order through a grid which becomes progressively smaller as you enter the shop, providing scale to the eclectic collection of objects,” Ridley said.
      The store design references the nearby British MuseumIt also drew on the idea of a wunderkammer, informed by the store’s location close to the British Museum, to display the goods as “objects of desire”.
      “The wunderkammer is an environment which provides order to a collection of objects through compartmentalisation which could otherwise be observed as a chaotic mess,” Ridley explained.
      “So it’s about how we display hundreds of tiny objects like pens, pencils and rubbers alongside toolboxes and trays in a considered and legible way.”

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      The aim was for the cabinets to be durable and as long-lasting as old museum vitrines. However, budgetary constraints meant that Architecture for London couldn’t use hardwood for the joinery.
      Instead, it chose to work with maple plywood and ash.
      “We created the appearance and durability of solid timber by applying a rule that all edges of the maple plywood are finished with 25-millimetre British ash, which can take the knocks from a busy shop floor,” Ridley said.
      The furnishings are fully demountable”The maple plywood grain is free from imperfections and has a calm grain, so we didn’t feel the need to use additional veneers,” he added.
      “Although the joinery is built with an off-the-shelf material, by concealing the raw plywood edges the interior avoids the DIY aesthetic that can come with working with plywood.”
      A neutral colour palette was used throughoutIt was important to Present & Correct that the interior would allow the products to shine, rather than compete with them.
      This led Architecture for London to use a neutral colour palette and a grid layout that lets the materials speak for themselves, rather than more eye-catching designs.
      “At the concept stage, we produced designs which incorporated more playful elements such as large columns shaped like pencils,” Ridley said.
      “The shopkeeper understood their product well enough to know that there was enough humour in the stationery, so it didn’t need to be represented in the architecture.”
      Other recent projects by Architecture for London include a light-filled extension to a Hackney home and an energy-saving home in north London designed for Ridley.
      The photography is by Building Narratives.
      Project credits:
      Architect: Architecture for LondonInterior designer: Architecture for LondonMain contractor: AFL Build

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      Dion & Arles creates “salon in which you can dine” for Il Gattopardo restaurant

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      French design and interiors studio Dion & Arles drew on the work of 20th-century Italian designers Carlo Mollino and Gio Ponti for the interior of Mayfair restaurant Il Gattopardo in London.

      “We envisioned Il Gattopardo to be a salon in which you can dine – not just a restaurant,” the designers told Dezeen.
      The studio looked to Mollino’s apartment in Turin for its balance between modernity and heritage.
      The inner dining room has curved crushed-velvet seating and a large fireplace”Modernity, heritage and sophistication are the three elements we think together define the Italian sensibility, which we tried to translate into the interiors,” Dion & Arles said.
      Il Gattopardo – which is Italian for leopard – is located in Mayfair in central London and aims to “celebrate the golden era of mid-century Italian design in an intimate setting” across five dining spaces, the studio said.

      The main dining room and crudo bar lead through to an inner dining area and second bar, which in turn reveals the intimate “salon”, or living room, which seats 10 people in soft-upholstered armchairs.
      Banquette seating is complemented by groupings of tables and chairsThere is a separate private dining room on the lower ground level.
      The salon room is characterised by crushed-velvet curved seating and a substantial fireplace featuring a bas-relief on its canopy.
      Tables are topped with sepia drawings after artist Piero Fornasetti, which complement the muted amber seating.
      Blue panthers feature on the walls in the entrance spaceIn the main dining room, banquette seating has been kept to a minimum, with tables and chairs otherwise arranged in close groupings.
      A signature leopard print motif appears on rugs, cushions and artworks in various tones ranging from amber to blue.
      “Each project should belong to its specific location,” the studio said.
      “We do not believe in cloning, as it gives the feeling of being everywhere, anywhere. We are trying to make people feel they are in a unique space that cannot be found anywhere else; ‘somewhere’ that belongs to ‘someone.”
      An Italian stone crudo bar sits in the corner of the dining roomThe spaces are decorated with an eclectic mix of free-form sculptures, objets, lamps, picture frames and carpets in vibrant colours.
      These “speak to the influence of the master of Italian flair, the interior designer and architect Gio Ponti,” the studio said.
      A striped fabric informed by the linings of Italian tailoring covers the ceiling. Panelled walls are intended to mimic the dashboard of a vintage Fiat coupé and, in the corner, Italian stone tops the crudo bar.

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      Informed by the eclectic, mix’n’match style of Mollino’s apartment, the private dining room – which features a leopard-print carpet from French interior designer Madeleine Castaing – was designed to feel like a secret refuge.
      “We see patterns as a variation of colour which add density to the palette,” the designers said. “We generally prefer to work with a small-scale pattern, which is less intrusive.”
      The private dining room has soft lighting diffused through fabricClassical sepia frescoes run around the wall of the private dining room above rich navy blue, textured fabric panels.
      Soft lighting is diffused through fabric resting between the ceiling beams, which was designed to mimic a sunset. An illuminated onyx bar adds to the warm lighting scheme.
      The crudo bar has a polished wood-panelled ceilingDesigning the interiors of Il Gattopardo was “a dream commission” the studio said, as it gave it the opportunity to work in a style the designers love.
      “We are always referring to earlier periods when every house and family inherited antique furniture and juxtaposed it with futuristic pieces,” the studio said.
      Reference points for the space also included project by interior designer David Hicks and movies by director Stanley Kubrick.
      “We don’t have rules and we like to take inspiration from great painters, as in most recent compositions by Peter Doig, or the way [Pedro] Almodóvar approaches colour in his films,” the studio added.
      “Everything can go together; bad or good taste is merely a place of refuge for under-confidence. Walking along the borders of taste is more exciting to us.”
      Other restaurant interiors recently featured on Dezeen include GRT Architects’ “vacation Italian” restaurant in New York and Lorenzo Botero and Martín Mendoza’s conversion of a Bogotá residence into a brick-lined restaurant.
      The photography is by James McDonald.

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      Chair of Virtue presents experimental seating at London Design Festival

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      Digitally shrink-wrapped skin, armrests salvaged from parks and “frozen” resin featured in Prototype/In Process, an exhibition of seating presented by virtual magazine Chair of Virtue during London Design Festival.

      Displayed under a railway arch at Borough Yards, Prototype/In Process was made up of 1:1 scale prototypes of chairs, as well as chairs that are still works in progress, by 12 London-based designers who are either established or emerging in their field.
      Prototype/In Process features a chair by Sara Afonso SternbergSara Afonso Sternberg presented sculptural aluminium seating made of armrests salvaged from the middle of public benches in Camberwell. The armrests were originally created to make it difficult for homeless people to sleep or rest on the benches.
      “These objects are given a new form and use, inviting the public to critically engage with control mechanisms such as hostile architecture that permeate the urban landscape,” said Afonso Sternberg.
      Jesse Butterfield created a “frozen” resin pieceAnother piece on display was by Jesse Butterfield. The designer used vacuum infusion, draping and papier-mâché to create a chair covered in resin that was intended to appear “frozen”.

      Various methods of production were showcasedthroughout the show. Daniel Widrig used 3D printing to digitally shrink-wrap a rectangular chair with polylactic acid, a starch-based bioplastic.
      Daniel Widrig used 3D printing for his pieceThe result is a grey-hued chair with an undulating form, which mirrors the shared style of previous blobby stools created by the designer.
      “Its contours mimic the gentle curves and natural irregularities of body tissue, forming intricate folds and wrinkles,” explained Widrig.

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      Thomas Wheller also used aluminium by folding a single piece of the material to create his chair, while Louis Gibson experimented with “regular” construction stock materials by creating casts from disused pipes.
      “I was interested in imagining how these parts could be used unconventionally,” said the designer.
      Thomas Wheller also worked with aluminium”With such large volumes, I was curious to create casts, and then evaluate the internal forms in a new light, and finally address the problem of reassembly,” added Gibson.
      “I chose plaster for the purpose of quick setting, I also felt it was in keeping with the world of builders’ merchants stock supplies.”
      Louis Gibson experimented with salvaged construction materialsWhile the exhibition concluded at the end of London Design Festival (LDF), Chair of Virtue is an ongoing project curated by Adam Maryniak.
      Prototype/In Process was on display on Dirty Lane as part of the annual festival’s Bankside Design District.
      Furniture created from the remains of a single car and a modular display system by Zaha Hadid Design were among the many other projects featured during LDF.
      The photography is courtesy of Chair of Virtue. 
      Prototype/In Process was on show as part of London Design Festival 2023 from 16 to 24 September 2023. See our London Design Festival 2023 guide on Dezeen Events Guide for information about the many other exhibitions, installations and talks that took place throughout the week.

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      Gallery Fumi marks 15th anniversary with design exhibition informed by biology

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      To celebrate 15 years of Gallery Fumi, the London gallery is hosting the Growth + Form exhibition of “functional art”, featuring sculptural furniture and lighting with organic forms.

      The Growth + Form exhibition includes new works by 16 of the 28 past Gallery Fumi exhibitors, responding to themes of transformation, regeneration and biological growth patterns.
      The Growth + Form exhibition celebrates Gallery Fumi’s 15th anniversaryIt was designed by architectural designer Leendert De Vos and curated by design historian Libby Sellers, who invited former exhibitors back to showcase new pieces in a group display.
      The exhibition title and theme were informed by the On Form and Growth book by Scottish biologist D’Arcy Wentworth Thompson, which analyses the mathematical harmony of growing shapes in biology.
      Pieces in the exhibition were informed by biologyResponding to this biological starting point, furniture and lighting with organic shapes and natural materials can be seen throughout the exhibition.

      Danish artist Stine Bidstrup created a sculptural chandelier titled Light Entanglements, made up of twisting clusters of hand-blown glass.
      Light Entanglements is a chandelier made from hand-blown glassDifferent lengths of painted sticks were combined to create Marmaros Metamorphosis II, a circular decorative wall piece with a textured, tufted-like surface by sculptor Rowan Mersh.
      “Revisiting the very beginning of his career when Mersh used cheap materials to experiment with techniques, in this work using lacquered coloured sticks, he creates forms with the details and skill level he currently attains when using precious materials,” said Gallery Fumi.
      Seating crafted from a single yew log is featured in the exhibitionAs the gallery celebrates its 15th anniversary, Sellers likened its growth to the formation of crystals – the material traditionally associated with 15-year anniversaries.
      “Grown from small particles into a solid form of geometric beauty, crystal is both a poetic metaphor for Gallery Fumi’s own development over the last 15 years and an opportunity to explore the creative affinity between science, art, and the intricate nature of constructions,” said Sellers.

      Lara Bohinc designs Jesmonite lighting collection to look like unearthed relics

      “After all, is this not a definition of design? The meeting of knowledge, form-making, material exploration and beauty?” Sellers added.
      “The works are vibrant and active – sprouting, swirling, twisting, turning – transferring material and form into objects of beauty.”
      Wegworth created a crystal salt vase for the exhibitionAlso on show was a wooden cabinet covered in hand-painted shingles by Berlin-based designer Lukas Wegwerth, who also created a crystal salt vase titled Crystallization 183.
      “Crystallization 183 was identified by Sellers as most significant for the exhibition, as not only is the 15-year anniversary traditionally celebrated with crystal, but the process of growing the crystals is a poetic metaphor for Fumi’s growth as a gallery,” Gallery Fumi said.
      The wall sculpture Marmaros Metamorphosis II has a tufted textureOther pieces on display include a sculptural copper floor lamp with a stone base by London design studio JamesPlumb and a chair by British designer Max Lamb crafted from a single yew log.
      “Tapping into the creative affinity between science and art, the pieces created for the show will display fluid organic forms, natural materials and geometric structures,” said Gallery Fumi.
      The exhibition is on display from 7 to 30 SeptemberOther designers showing work include US sculptor Casey McCafferty, Italian designer Francesco Perini, design studio Glithero, Chinese material designer Jie Wu, German ceramic artist Johannes Nagel, Finnish artist Kustaa Saksi, British artist Leora Honeyman, Spanish artist Saelia Aparicio, British artist Sam Orlando Miller, design studio Study O Portable and furniture design studio Voukenas Petrides.
      Gallery Fumi was founded in 2008 by Valerio Capo and Sam Pratt. It has previously showcased work including a Jesmonite lighting collection by British designer Lara Bohinc and a limited-edition bench by JamesPlumb made using medieval dying techniques.
      The photography is courtesy of Gallery Fumi.
      The Growth + Form exhibition is on display at the Gallery Fumi in London, UK, from 7 to 30 September 2023. See Dezeen Events Guide for an up-to-date list of architecture and design events taking place around the world.

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      Headquarters of crypto company Copper designed to “provide a sense of assurance”

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      Universal Design Studio put a modern spin on the design conventions of bank buildings when creating the headquarters for cryptocurrency firm Copper inside a Richard Rogers-designed office in London.

      Copper – a fintech company that helps financial institutions to securely store and trade cryptocurrencies – wanted to break away from London’s financial districts and instead set up its office inside Soho’s Broadwick House.
      Copper’s headquarters are located in the Richard Rogers-designed Broadwick HouseThe building was originally completed by the Richard Rogers Partnership in 2000 and was renovated last year before Copper brought in Universal Design Studio to devise the interiors.
      The local practice introduced familiar materials such as marble and walnut into Copper’s HQ to “provide a sense of assurance”.
      Copper-toned curtains provide a sense of privacyThese are contrasted with more contemporary elements including stainless steel, kinetic screens and dynamic light boxes that help to create “an uncanny and cinematic environment”.

      “The design approach draws in part upon historic icons of banking architecture through a contemporary lens, to create a familiar space that feels safe, whilst also pushing the boundaries on expectations,” the practice said.
      “Being able to contain that within an architectural landmark is very special.”
      Private meeting rooms are set back from the facade at the core of the buildingThe lobby features Jesmonite wall panels, referencing the marble-wrapped entrances found in more traditional banks.
      By contrast, a gold desk, alcove and gridded lightbox ceiling give a cinematic feel to the lobby and “allude to some of the more unexpected design elements further up the building”, according to Universal Design Studio.
      “This idea of bringing together two distinctive finishes that are different recurs throughout the building, to echo the safe and trusted nature of finance with a new digital future,” the practice said.
      The building’s new “Copper Core” is clad in dark timberRogers’s original architectural concept for the building focussed on transparency, with glazed facades providing high levels of light penetration.
      Universal Design Studio sought to work with this vision, creating light-infused workspaces with a focus on natural materials.
      Lightbox ceilings provide dramatic illumination”The main workspaces for the Copper team are light, with a connection to the street level around the perimeter, playing to the strengths of the original facade design,” the studio said.
      “But given the nature of what Copper do, an element of privacy was also essential.”

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      To achieve this, the studio designed a more opaque “Copper Core” that runs through the entire building, punctuating each floor and containing private spaces such as meeting rooms and quiet rooms.
      Set away from the exterior facade, the meeting rooms in the core of the building are inevitably less light-filled than the main work areas.
      Meeting rooms are panelled with walnut woodTo create spaces that still felt inviting, Universal chose to panel the walls with walnut, harnessing the tactility of this natural material to add a feeling of safety and familiarity.
      Stainless steel thresholds were added to create a sense of arrival, as team members move away from general working areas into the Copper Core.
      The interiors were designed to inspire a sense of trust and securityIn another nod to the concept of privacy, Universal designed a copper-toned curtain that is found on each floor level, running the full perimeter of the facade.
      “Operated digitally, each floor’s curtain closes in unison,” the studio said. “The curtain was also conceived as a type of visual security, locking down the building at night.”
      The top floors were designed for hosting clientsVisiting clients are received on the sixth and seventh floors of the building where the meeting rooms take on a hospitality focus, with bar and banquette-style seating capitalising on Broadwick House’s views across the city.
      “These areas are styled on a members’ club to serve the Copper team and its clients,” Universal Design Studio said.
      “The sixth floor has a focus on gathering both physically and digitally. Cinematic experiences are again utilised in this space with dramatic sliding digital screens for large events and presentations.”
      Guests can take in the views from banquette-style seating boothsOther unconventional interiors belonging to financial institutions include Hana Bank in Seoul with its “floating” meeting room and Citibank Singapore, which was designed to resemble a giant conservatory.
      The photography is by Ed Reeve.

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